Training Hearts
by Lil6ter
Summary: Hundreds of competitors seek one common goal; two seek each other. “I didn’t do this for me!” he finally shouted out, exasperated as he paced the small room over looking the blue square building and round metal bird’s nest. Full summery inside
1. Prologue

Training Hearts

_Disclaimer: I love the only Inuyasha related thing I own. My cute little chibi inu key-chain which lives out its happy life on my iPod making fashion statements everywhere (Ha! Take that Parris Hilton! You want something hot? Then look at my iPod cuz it's so cute and knows how to accessorize.)_

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Summery

Hundreds of competitors seek one common goal; two seek each other.

"I didn't do this for me!" he finally shouted out, exasperated as he paced the small room over looking the blue square building and round metal bird's nest.

"What do you mean?" she whispered.

"You once asked me why I did this. Why the high bar? I did it for my mother, but now, I do it for you."

"Inuyasha…"

"No! You wanted to know, right? Fine then. I pushed myself like this 'cause I love you."

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Training Hearts

By: Lil6ter

_Prologue_

2004 Athens

It was his moment to shine. He could feel it pulsing in his blood. He was only sixteen, but he knew without a doubt that this would be the moment that he made history.

He ran, leaping up and grabbing hold of the slim round object placed in a horizontal line before him. He felt it bounce under his weight and the force of his leap, but he was used to it. this came as a second nature to him.

He used the momentum to follow through with the swing, circling before moving onto the next bar placed before him. He circled it once, twice, a third time.

He ignored the cheers of the crowed.

He ignored the music.

He ignored everything but this one high bar.

He kept spinning and twisting his body. Contorting it whenever he needed to perform the next feat. He let go of the bar, spread his legs apart in mid air, and then grabbed hold of the bar once more, repeating the move over and over again.

He was performing to the best that he could, but he could push himself further, he was sure. He could reach that much sought after perfection…

But he did not have the drive to.

He made the final few flips before letting go and sticking his landing.

The crowd cheered, amazed by his performance, but he was not.

He walked off the floor, grabbing a water bottle from the coach and waited to hear his score, but his mind was elsewhere.

"Inuyasha, aren't you happy?"

"Huh?"

"You just knocked Koga from the top! You have the gold!"

The gold, huh?

"Yeah, I am really happy!" Inuyasha told his coach, plastering a happy smile on his face.

"Am I?" he whispered softly, wistfully, before he felt himself getting thrown into a whirlwind of congratulations from his teammates.

A/N: Like? Hate? Review! Everyone should know my policy by now from White Rose. Every review gets an Author response, even if I am slow with them… Thanks to DP for helping with the summery too!


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I love the only Inuyasha related thing I own. My cute little chibi inu key-chain which lives out its happy life on my iPod making fashion statements everywhere (Ha! Take that Parris Hilton! You want something hot? Then look at my iPod cuz it's so cute and knows how to accessorize.)_

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Chapter 1

2008 America

"Again."

Gods…she was beginning to hate that word, again. It was penetrating her thoughts. She would hear it even when he was not around. That single word echoed in her mind when she was in the shower, when she slept, but she heard it the most when she practiced. She looked up from her place on the floor through sweaty bangs at the man that was torturing her, and she wanted to spit on his smug expression. That damn smirk…it was mocking her and she wanted to tear his lips off if it meant that it would die and just go away.

"Get up," he repeated, "and do it again."

"Aren't you ever satisfied?" she asked as he walked to her with his arms crossed over his broad chest until he was towering over her, his shadow blocking out the light from the florescent bulbs above.

"No."

She had to bite her lip from growling and spiting in his face as she rose to her feet.

"Good girl…I knew that you could do it."

If there was one thing that she hated more then that…_word_…it was his condescending tone.

"Now then…are you going to listen to what I have told you or are you going to foolishly disobey me and risk injury?"

"You are not my master…"

"No…I am your trainer, and to you, I am God. Everything I say, you do. If you so much as bat an eyelash with out my permission, then you will be reprimanded. I tell you when to breath, how to breath, and if you _can_ breath. I tell you what you can or cannot do with your body. I tell you how to _move_ your body, and you have no other choice then to listen to me or get hurt from your foolishness. Now, do it again, and do it the way I told you."

There was that damn word. _Again_.

"Bite me."

"My, your feisty today. What did you do to her Sesshomaru?" a voice asked from behind.

Not him again…and just when she thought that her session could not get any worse. The second he walks into the room…

"Nothing that I have not done to you."

"Really? You see, we never bit each other. How kinky of you two. Next time I wanna get in on that action."

…the tormenting _always _begins…

"Well then _Inuyasha_, I am so very glad that you finally owned up to being gay."

"Happy?" the man asked as he walked up to the trainer and athlete, "Always."

Kagome's hands clenched as she took in the sight of the happy-go-lucky man before her. He was in his training cloths, so that meant that her session was almost over and his was about to begin. Good. She was not sure just how much more of this she could take today.

"Kagome, I believe that I told you to do something." Sesshomaru interrupted, heading off the fight that he was sure was about to begin.

A low growl erupted from the young woman's throat before she spun around on her heal and marched back over to the lowest rod of the uneven bars.

Stupid prick…the two of them…

No, that was not true. Sesshomaru was the prick. Inuyasha was the ass.

Kagome had to stop herself from thinking about said ass's ass as she chalked up her hands, for the ass did have a nice one. One that could be seen quite clearly in his training clothes. Again…now was not the time to be thinking about the only good thing about the ass…maybe she should just find a different name for him. Basterd? No…to cliché. Ass_hole_? Oh yes…how very original. The ass just went from ass to ass_hole_. What was that? An upgrade?

Whatever. It didn't matter.

Kagome jumped up, hoisting herself onto the bar before she proceeded to execute each carefully planned out maneuver…until she pushed herself too far by not listening to the prick and fell to the ground. Damn, what were the mats made of? Cement? That _hurt_!

The ass_hole_ ran forward, dropping to his knees to roll her over and examine her for any wounds. The prick stood behind him, not bothering to even see if she was all right after what felt like the thousandth fall she had that day.

"Leave her, Inuyasha." He said as the other man helped the fallen girl sit up a few inches off the ground. "If she does not want to listen to me like she is supposed to, then let her lay on the floor like that. Perhaps she will learn once she can no longer rise on her own that she should obey me and do as she is told."

Kagome felt his fingers twitch, almost as if he was going to disobey his brother and trainer, but he did not and laid her back on the floor.

Damn obedient puppy.

His brother was his trainer all right, and at the rate he was going he was gonna be one hell of a dog to that master.

Kagome spread her hands out to either side, accidentally brushing the ass_hole_'s leg as she pushed herself to sit up. Oh yes…the man's looks was defiantly the only good thing about him if he listened to his brother and let a girl just lie on the floor instead of helping her up after an eight foot drop, and man, was he a looker. If she did not know how big of an ass_hole_ the ass_hole_ could be, she would have made a pass at him long ago, what with his short silver hair, those golden coin's that he called eyes, and that slim, lanky, yet muscular build. Yup…the man was _defiantly_ a looker, and she did not mind looking.

"You are _not_ my master," she gritted out once more as she pushed herself to her feet, "and I am _not_ your slave."

"Well my _slave_," Sesshomaru started, drawing out the word slave just to infuriate her that much more, "practice is over for today and I expect you back here bright and early to start this all over again. You may leave now."

"I will leave when I want to leave." She told him, refusing to let him push her around like he was.

"Fine. Then you can watch Inuyasha practice."

A low growl sounded from Kagome once more as she watched the ass_hole_ go through a series of stretches before he chalked up and got onto a different set of a single bar to start his routine.

As much fun as it was arguing with Sesshomaru everyday, she needed a better way to see Inuyasha practice.

The man was grace personified. He knew how to move his body in a way that she only dreamed of. Every spin, every twist, every muscle movement was shear perfection and elegance, not that he could be called feminine though. Oh no…Inuyasha always oozed a masculinity that still appeared in his routine. It was worked into the fine creases of every swing. There was an underlining power in him that could simply not be ignored when he was on the bar. There were no unplanned movements, no slipups, no accidents. Flawless. _That_ is what she wanted to be. _That_ was why she envied this man, because he was perfect. Every time she watched him she felt a sense of aw come over her…and a sense of envy.

He was nearing the end of his routine now, just about to make his landing. Kagome went to pick up her discarded bag over on the other side of the room when she heard the prick start to talk to her.

"Finally decided to leave did we?"

Whatever. He did not even deserve and answer. She was still pretty heated from arguing with him all practice.

"Come on Inuyasha, stick it!"

Good. At least he is paying attention to his brother again. Kagome turned to watch his last maneuver before he hurtled himself into the air and proceeded to twist himself until his feet hit the ground, his back perfectly straight and knees almost unbending.

Beautiful.

Flawless.

Perfection.

"Damn it…you still can't get that landing Inuya…"

"What the hell are you talking about!" Kagome shouted, aghast that the prick would think that his performance was anything less then stunning. "That was a perfect landing!"

"Kagome…"

"No! His entire routine was flawless! What was wrong with it! Do you like torturing your athletes, or is it just Inuyasha and me?"

"Kagome!" the ass_hole _said her namethis time and he did _not_ sound happy.

"What!"

"While we appreciate your opinion, I would rather have my brother train me, not you. If he says that I still need to work on my landing, then I still need to work on my landing. I don't care if you watch me or not, but if you do then just remember that you are not my trainer."

Ouch. That was cold.

"Fine then. See if I help you out next time," she crisply commented before spinning on her heal and leaving the premises.

Oh yes…he was right when he came in. She was indeed fiery today, and he loved every second of it.

"Alright Inuyasha. Now maybe we can have some peace. I want you to do it again."

The man nodded as he began training with his brother's guidance once more.

Inuyasha could understand fiery attitudes, hell, he had one, but that did not mean that you needed one when you practiced with your trainer. Inuyasha never lashed out at Sesshomaru when they were training, partly because he got to every other moment, but mostly because he trusted his brother to make him the best, and he had. Inuyasha was able to fill his trophy room to the brim because of him, and he was grateful. He knew that he seemed "whipped" and submissive to everyone on the outside, but they just didn't get it. They had no idea what it is like to discipline yourself in everyway, and that included disciplining your attitude and just obeying when it came to dealing with your trainer.

That was something that he liked about Kagome. Ok, fine. That was why he really, really, _really_, liked Kagome. She never let go of her fighting sprit when she trained, and she was doing just as well as he was. And she never backed down from a challenge, whether it is verbal or…physical? Hm…sounds a bit wrong…but it's true! He had yet to see her back down from an _acrobatically_ difficult challenge that Sesshomaru presented before her. And she was funny and had a great sense of humor.

She would never know this, but one time he had "run into" her and a group of her childhood friends when they were leaving an ice cream store. He was about to go up to her and tell her that she should not be having any, since low weight is an essential part of gymnastics, but he decided that he would just let her have her fun. He followed her around a bit that day, not that he was stalking her, but it was interesting to see her somewhere outside of the gym. It was kind of like seeing one of your teachers somewhere other then school: weird, yet interesting because you got to see a different side of them, and in this case, a more human side. He loved the side of her that he saw that day. She was so carefree and he had never seen her as happy as she was then at the gym. She was so beautiful that day and as weird as it seemed, he loved watching her…until this guy came over to her and kissed her. He didn't get why he felt this lump form in his throat when it happened, but he did not stay around long enough to find out.

"That is enough for today, Inuyasha. You are distracted and I can do nothing more with you unless if you focused."

"Why? I was doing fine."

"You were being sloppy and making careless mistakes, one of which could have left you seriously injured until after the games. Do you want to miss out on you chance at the gold again?"

"You make it seem as though I never won my medals." Inuyasha groused.

"I never said that, but if you are not careful then you will never win more. I think that we should just pick up tomorrow."

Yeah, but what if he wanted to keep going? He silently smirked.

"Ok, sure, we can keep going tomorrow."

Inuyasha had a few blessed moments of peace to gather his things before his brother was upon him again.

"I have something that I need to talk to you about, Inuyasha."

That didn't sound good…

"What about?" he asked, his spine frozen in a perfect arc from when he was gathering his bag and its contents.

"About you, your performance, and Kagome."

Yup. Not good.

Inuyasha instantly straightened at his brother's words, spinning around to face him head on.

"So? What about her?"

"You perform better with her watching. Inuyasha, I know what is going on…"

"Sesshomaru, it is not like that!" he interrupted.

"Don't lie to me. I am not blind. It is obvious when you look at her. You are attracted to her."

"I am not!" Inuyasha yelled back, silently admiring his well though out plan for convincing his brother other wise.

His brother raised a finely trimmed eyebrow at his choice of words, but did not verbally comment on it.

"Be that as it may, I am thinking about making Kagome stay later to watch you practice. It will push you more and help drive you to perfection. I am going to discuss it with her tomorrow. If she agrees then we can try it out for a few days and see if you improve any."

"Sesshomaru, you can't be serious!"

"I am."

"But…no! I won't agree to it!"

"Inuyasha…"

"No!"

"Inuyasha!" Sesshomaru shouted, stopping his brother from arguing with him more, even though he wished that he could. "I am not asking you to agree to this as your brother. I am telling you to go through with this as your trainer."

"You're right…because my brother would take my feelings into consideration and not force me to do something like that."

That was the last thing Sesshomaru heard from his brother that day.

It was late, nearing eleven at night, but that did not stop her from going back to the gym. That was when she could really practice, and she would be damned if someone got in her way. Sesshomaru had his up points about being a trainer, but sometimes he was just plain annoying. Night was when she could get most of her hard work in. She did not try to do it too often so that her body did not get tired out, but often enough that the guards new her by name and knew that she was trust worthy.

She was just rounding the corner of the long hall when it hit her. Someone was in _her_ training room listening to hard rock. And it was _loud_! Heh…Metallica…nice. She knew this one, Call Of Ktulu. She had to applaud whoever was listening to the song. It was one of her personal favorites. Shame it was almost over. She could not help but wonder what would be playing next.

More rock?

Yup. More rock, and if she knew her rock, then this one was Painted by Evens Blue. This person had some really good taste in rock. Kagome rested her hand on the doorknob, pausing at the entry before she turned it and went in.

Inuyasha…she should have known. Who else would have been here? She should leave. This was his time to practice since he got here first and she didn't feel like sharing the room. She would just have to get here sooner tomorrow night. She was about to turn to leave when Inuyasha twisted his body so that he was now facing her, his eyes wide in surprise.

Kagome did not know if it was from exhaustion, surprise, or stressing his body too much, but he somehow lost his grip on the bar and fell down onto the hard mat bellow. Well, so much for leaving. She felt obliged to at least go over and check on the guy since his fall was from a lot higher up then hers had been.

She knelt down by his shoulders, offering him a hand and grabbing his arm. His surprise was apparent in his expression, but he took her hand nonetheless and let her help him up.

"What are you doing here?" he shouted, trying to be heard over the loud music.

"What?"

"I said…oh never mind…"

Kagome could see his lips moving again, but she could not understand a thing coming out of his mouth until he got up from on the floor and turned the volume down to a dull roar on the iPod speakers. Shame…she really loved what was essentially the guitar solo that was playing right now.

"I said," Inuyasha started turning around to face her as he held onto his shoulder, "what are you doing here?"

"Me? I can ask you the same thing. What are you doing here? And listening to rock no less!"

He snorted at that one.

"Who are you, my mother? I can listen to whatever I want."

"I know that. I just never would have pegged the preppy Inuyasha as a Metallica fan."

"Preppy? I am _not_ preppy. And that was not Metallica. That was…"

"Evens Blue. Painted. Yes, I know. Good taste by the way, and yes, you are." Kagome quickly interrupted, surprising the young man even further. "The only things I have ever seen you in are either your training clothes, or polo shirts."

"Why Kagome," the man started with a smirk so large that there was no way that it could be hidden plastered on his face, "I did not know that you cared so much about me that you took in my attire on a daily biases. You flatter me."

"That is not what I meant! Whatever. What is wrong with your shoulder? Did you fall on it?" Kagome asked him. He had yet to let go of his right shoulder after he got up from the floor to turn the volume down.

"I…it's fine. Don't…you don't have to worry about it," he told her as she walked over to him and tried to stop him from moving. He kept backing away from her, and if she forced it she would be able to back him up against the wall. He would have no choice but to listen to her then. Should she try it? Hm… it was defiantly worth a shot if nothing else.

Kagome hastened her pace, forcing Inuyasha to hasten his. Unfortunately, walking backwards was not his forte. He tripped over his own feet, causing him to fall down once again, and Kagome was not one to pass up such an advantageous opening. She pounced then, trapping him on the floor by pinning him down. His hiss of pain told her that she might have been a little to enthusiastic, but she did not care.

"Show me."

"No…why should I?"

"Because you need help. You're hurt and we both know it, so just let me help you."

Men!

Was accepting her help really such a hard thing for him to do?

Apparently it was. She could see his jaw muscle twitch from clenching his teeth as he thought about whether he should show her or not. Kagome sighed out of frustration. He was impossible! The only thing keeping her from completely losing her mind was admiring the view of a shirtless Inuyasha, sweaty from training hard on the bars. Then again, if she was enjoying looking at _Inuyasha _like that, then maybe she had lost her mind a long time ago and was only now getting the memo.

"Fine." Inuyasha suddenly said, drawing her from her visual exploration of his upper body. "Just get off of me first."

"Fine then!" she huffed. It was not like she really _liked_ crouching down on top of him anyway. He was just being impossible, and unreasonable, and stubborn and…oh my god! It was turning purple!

"Your shoulder! Inuyasha, we need to get ice on that right away! I don't think that you should practice for a while either! It's awful!"

"That bad, huh?" he chuckled darkly as Kagome helped him up again.

"Yes. Your entire shoulder blade is turning purple and it's starting to swell. Come on…let's get you some ice. Maybe even and a Tylenol. Actually, I think that I would use Ibuprofen for that." she told him as she led him out of the room.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"The speakers are still on!"

You have got to be kidding. The guy is risking loosing his spot on the Olympic team, and all he cares about are his speakers?

"Leave them and come with me," she ground out, forcibly dragging him by his hand, on the good arm, out of the room to get some ice and put it in a plastic Ziploc bag. "Turn around." She commanded, gently resting the bag on his shoulder to start cooling it. He hissed at the temperature, but they did not have anything to wrap it in, unless…

"Did you bring a shirt with you or did you come here half naked."

"Was that a joke?"

"A sad attempt at one, but yes."

"Would you feel disappointed if I said yes?"

Did he just…make a pass at her?

"I would feel like you were hitting on me if you said that you didn't."

"In that case," he started, the hesitation clear in his voice, "I didn't."

Yup. He was making a pass at her. Shame she had to more then likely crush the guy.

"Inuyasha, you are a great guy, but…"

"Ah yes. The but. Don't bother finishing. I get the idea: not interested and I have a boyfriend."

"Oh come on," she said, trying to reason with him. "It's not like you even like me! You are just saying that cause I am helping you with your shoulder. And that's not true…I broke up with him a few weeks ago. I found out that the stupid prick was cheating on me. Anyways," she said quickly, hoping to distance them from what would be an awkward, and for her, painful conversation, "what were you doing here this late? You never told me."

"Same thing you wanted to do. Train. Sesshomaru cut our session short today. He said that I was too distracted and that I was gonna hurt myself. I guess that he was right, huh?" there was no way that he was gonna forget that whole 'I just broke up with him,' thing. It loosened up a big knot in his chest.

"Nah. You were fine by the looks of things until I came in and distracted you."

Inuyasha could not help but think that she was always distracting him in some way or another.

"Hey, Inuyasha? Can I ask you something?"

"Like not having my permission would stop you."

"Hm…true." She said, cocking her head to the side after a moment. "but, I don't know, I guess that this is personal."

"Just ask it. It's not like I have to answer, right?"

"Yeah…I guess. So then…why gymnastics, or more specifically the high bar."

"Eh?" Inuyasha said, craning his head over his bad right shoulder to get a better look at her. Unfortunately that was his bad shoulder and it hurt to do that.

"Stop! You'll make it worse. Come on…lets get you back to the training room. This has to stay on for another ten and we at least have your iPod there."

"Another ten? How long has it been on for already?" He asked inquisitively as Kagome marched him out of the room.

"Ten. Twenty minutes on, forty minutes off. It will help control the swelling and get it to heal faster…if it is done religiously."

"Yeah, I know, it has just been a while since I got a bruise like this. I guess that I was about due for one."

"Mh hm." Kagome agreed as they sat down next to the speakers. Numb, Linkin Park. How appropriate. Inuyasha must want to have his shoulder feel numb. Not exactly Metallica, but still a good song. "So like I was saying before, well, asking before, why out of all the sports out there are you into gymnastics. I mean, there are so many more…_masculine_ sports out there. Football, soccer, baseball…hell, even weight lifting. They are so much more…well, a guy would sooner sign up for that then put themselves through gymnastics. Don't get me wrong! I know that guys do it, it's just that…you don't really…well, seem like the type that would want to do it."

She did not know what she was expecting his answer to be, but she was not expecting his silence.

"I see. That is fine. You don't have to answer me. I hope that what I said did not come off as an insult though. I was not trying to do that. I was just merely curious. If I did though, I am sorry. So…umm…" this was not going quite as she planed. Kagome looked off to the side and saw something black draped over a bag. His shirt! And…it wasn't a polo. Actually…she had seen him in this shirt before. It was the day she met him and Sesshomaru. Kagome didn't think that he was going to be training that day because he was wearing jeans too. She wouldn't have remembered the shirt except for the ridiculous saying on it 'This is why I'm hot.' under a fire flower, or whatever it is called from the video game with the guy called Mario. Kagome took the ice bag away from his shoulder for a moment to wrap it in the shirt so that it would not be so mind numbingly cold.

"Time up?"

"Nope. You still have another six minuets."

"Then why did you take the ice off?"

"For two reason's. The first was to see how your bruise is, and it looks a little better. The other reason is that I found your shirt. I wanted to wrap the bag in it so that it is not too cold for you."

"Going through my things I see." The smirk in his voice was tangible.

"Yup, and if you are not careful, I am gonna raid your iPod next." She teased. He did seem to have good music on it so far…or at least songs that she approved of to get her fix of rock. She liked other styles of music to though. It made her diverse.

"Go for it."

"Really?" was he really gonna let her just, sabotage his music? It could be like the window into your soul. What you listened to could say a lot about a person. That was why she did not just go off and grab her friends iPods and go through them. She felt as if it was a privet thing that you should only do when you have that person's permission. Of course, they would never understand that. She could not say that she was surprised about it though.

"Yeah. Feel free to have your way with it."

Well, if he put it like that.

Pressing the menu button and then the center button, she was surprised to find out that his training playlist consisted of mostly hard rock and asked him why.

He was silent for a moment, and she thought that he was not going to answer her question again when he replied.

"I dunno. This will sound weird though, but…when I listen to it, I can block out the rest of the world. Everything narrows until the only things that I see, feel, and hear are the bars, my body, and the music. I tried it with other stuff before, but what you are looking at just did it for me. It helps me focus I guess."

Kagome waited for the next six minutes behind Inuyasha looking through his iPod while she kept the ice pack on him. His taste in music was almost identical to her own. If she did not have the newest iPod, she could have easily mistaken his for her own. She set the bag of ice down off to her side and looked at his shoulder. Damn…he must have a high threshold for pain. He didn't make a whimper when he fell down, but his body said that it was hurting and badly.

"You have forty minuets." Kagome told him as he turned around to look at her. "Do you want to drive home? Can you even make it on your own, or do you need help?"

"Driving? Kagome, it is only my shoulder…"

"Still though, it doesn't look good and I would feel better if I knew that you made it back home without getting anymore injuries."

"What do you purpose then?"

She was silent for a moment then. What _would_ she have him do then? It was not like he could come home with her. She was only seventeen for God's sake! What would her parents say if she brought a twenty year old into their home? And at this time of night? It would only be worse if she stayed at his place, and they could not very well stay here.

She could drive him home in her car, and then pick him up the next day and bring him back here for his car. But then again, how would he get it home? This was so confusing!

"Kagome?"

"Yeah?"

"Would it make you feel any better if I told you that I am left handed?"

Left handed? What did that have to do with anything? He was hurt on his…that actually made a big difference. He was hurt on his _right_ shoulder.

"So then you can make it back on your own?"

"I plan to."

Kagome helped Inuyasha struggle back into his shirt and helped him gather his stuff before walking him out to his car.

"Are you sure you'll be alright? Driving home, that is."

"I'll be fine…don't worry about me," he told her opening the trunk of his dark red car and swinging his bag inside.

"Still though…"

"Kagome," he started, walking up to her and giving her hand a squeeze. "I will be _fine_. Don't worry about me. Go home, and get some sleep."

"But how can you make it home in one piece?"

"Easily," he said casually, gently sucker punching her on the cheek, using the action as an excuse to feel the soft skin on her face. "I mean it. Sleep. Sesshomaru is gonna make you train harder now that we are a few weeks away from the games."

"Gag. Don't remind me…I feel the pressure enough as it is."

"Don't. You will be fine. You will _do_ fine."

"If you say so…" she grumbled.

"I do. You are an amazing athlete Kagome. Never forget that."

"I won't," she whispered, awed by his soft and reassuring words.

"Hey, listen I am going to take off now, but I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

My he can get confident fast.

"And what makes you think that I will stick around after practice to see you tomorrow?"

"Well, for starters, you don't have to stick around for me to see you. I can just show up early. And also," he smirked, "I would think that after the big fuss about my shoulder you would want to see how I am fairing."

Cocky ass_hole_. Cocky _truthful_ ass_hole_.

"Fine…I might stick around for a few minuets…just to see you get chewed out by your brother."

"Sure you will," he said, his smirk widening. "Night Kagome, and…thank you. For being here for me tonight and worrying about me, even though you shouldn't."

"Yeah, don't worry about it," she told him, looking down to hid her blush. She was sure that he could see it from the parking lot light looming above them.

She heard the car door open and shut before he started the engine and took off. Kagome stared after him, long after he had driven off.

Maybe Inuyasha wasn't _that_ big of and ass_hole_ after all. Maybe he was just an ass.

She smirked as she walked to her own car, throwing the bag in the back and starting the engine, before she flipped to her favorite radio station.

Yeah…she could deal with asses like Inuyasha.

* * *

A/N: Like it? Hate it? Gimmie all your thoughts! This story was obviously inspired by the Olympics, but I also thought that it was unique for once. True or false? Hope that you have enjoyed it so far! I don't have a new posting date for it yet, but expect it sometime once the Olympics are over…and after school starts.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I love the only Inuyasha related thing I own. My cute little chibi inu key-chain which lives out its happy life on my iPod making fashion statements everywhere (Ha! Take that Parris Hilton! You want something hot? Then look at my iPod cuz it's so cute and knows how to accessorize.)_

Chapter 2

Inuyasha groaned as he struggled to get into his T-shirt. What sense did it make to try and get dressed up for Kagome if he had a bruise on his shoulder and would just need to take his shirt off again later? Damn. That was one hell of a fall. Stupid, beautiful, wonderful Kagome; she just had to distract him…

He bit down on his lip to keep from groaning in pain as his shirt forced him to jerk his shoulder. He needed ice…and he needed ice now! And some serious pain killers. He jerkily opened the door to his room and trudged down the hall and stairs to go to the kitchen.

Shit! Sesshomaru…he had to hide!

Inuyasha ducked down the hall and pressed up against the wall, jarring his shoulder further. This time he hissed in pain as more waves shot down his arm. It was stupid…he was hiding from his older brother. Really though, he was hiding from his older brother who _just_ so happened to be his trainer _and_ had a nasty temper, especially when he got bad news in the morning. What time was it? Sesshomaru should have left by now to start with Kagome, right? It was still pretty early.

Inuyasha sighed as he bowed his head in thought. His shoulder was killing him. Was it worth the risk, to walk into the kitchen, grab a bag of ice, or frozen peas…peas for dinner…great…and a pain killer, or would it be better to wait for Sesshomaru to leave. Shoulder pain, or Sesshomaru. Excruciating shoulder pain, or Sesshomaru. Excruciating, make you want to rip your arm out shoulder pain, or Sesshomaru. Burning waves of excruciating, make you want to rip your arm out shoulder pain, or Sesshomaru.

He would take the pain.

…He would take the pain so long as his now pain in the ass brother left the friggen' house soon!

Damn it…his parents must be up too. Who else would his asshole of a brother be talking to?

"Do you really think that it is a good idea to do that?"

His father. The voice was too deep and rough to be Sesshomaru.

"Yes. He is not applying himself."

"He never has. I always thought that it was a bad idea to get him started in this gymnastics stuff. The boy doesn't want to do it!"

"But now he does. You should see the way that he looks at her. I see a new inspiration flare in him, and he actually tries to get better. If she stays after practice…"

"What does he say about this though?" a smooth and rich female voice that was almost lyrical. His mother.

"He is Inuyasha. He hates it. What do you expect?"

"Sesshomaru, I don't think that it is a good idea to…_exploit_ your brother's love interests, especially if he hates the idea."

"Father, you have never _seen_ him perform when she is around. It is like his whole outlook on the sport changes. He becomes a different performer. A better _athlete_. He actually _tries_ to do better in it instead of coasting on his rank as number one from Athens. It is like I never met my own brother before when he is near her. His whole demeanor changes."

"I just don't want to put him through anymore than he already has been through, Sesshomaru," his mother whispered brokenly.

"He has gotten better since then, Mother. He is stronger then you think, both physically and mentally."

Inuyasha tried not to let his emotions get to him as he thought of the two things that his mother was referring to. He could already feel his throat tightening and he did not want to burst out into sobs again.

"And besides, I think that he is ready to move on. Did you know that she is the reason that Inuyasha started wearing all of those polo shirts? He didn't say it, but I can tell that he wants to look nice around her. I must say that I am quite relieved. If she could bring out a better taste in his attire, then I bet that she can bring out the better athlete in him too."

"Just ask him one last time before you do anything rash," his father pleaded. "You may think that he is better, but I think that he is still healing inside, and if he really _does_ like this girl, then he will never forgive you if he looses any chance that he has with her because of you."

"I love my brother, Father, but from what I have seen of Kagome, Inuyasha doesn't have a chance with her."

Damn…that one cut deep.

Inuyasha pushed off from against the wall and walked into the kitchen, not caring anymore what his brother had to say to him.

"Inuyasha! Good morning," his mother cheerfully greeted him. She looked good today. Her hair was almost back to its normal length and her face had a flush of pink to it. If he hadn't been so mad at the moment, he might have been feeling elated because of this. She was sitting next to his father with a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Morning, Mom," he replied gruffly, walking over to the stove with a pan of still hot scrambled eggs inside, and another one with pancakes sitting atop it. Apple pancakes. His favorite.

"You look stiff. Has your brother been working you too hard?"

"Don't worry about it, Dad. He's just doing his job."

He might not have been happy with his brother, but he didn't have to take it out on his parents.

"He always worries, Inuyasha. It is in our blood as parents."

"Don't take too much Inuyasha. I don't want you gaining weight before the games," his brother warned, watching him as he served himself some eggs with the spatula that was left in the pan.

"Just shut the hell up for once, Sesshomaru!"

"Inuyasha!" his mother gasped. "What has gotten into you?"

"I heard everything, ok?" he shouted, annoyed and sad and pissed off at what his own _brother_ had said about him. It was one thing to talk about his will to do the high bar, and it was another one to talk about Kagome, and it was _another_ one to talk about his chances at being _anything_ with the lioness that was a monkey on the bars. "I know that pretty, pretty princess over there thinks that I don't have a shot at Kagome. Well you know what? I think that I do. She even told me yesterday at the gym that she was all but taken, and I think that that is a pretty damn good invite, so just leave us the fuck alone."

"Inuyasha! I did _not_ raise you to use such language."

"My words may have been out of line, _little_ brother," Sesshomaru said coolly, "but they were _not_ untruthful."

"Whatever. I'm leaving. I can't deal with you right now," Inuyasha said, throwing his plate of food in front of his brother before he walked out of the room, slamming the front door as he fished his keys out of his pocket.

He needed to go get some ice. And some chow too. Then he was going over to the gym.

It was stupid. Why the hell should she be worrying about an ass like Inuyasha? It wasn't like his bruise was _that_ bad. Ok…maybe she was lying about that one. She should have taken him home yesterday, _just_ to be on the safe side.

He had been on her mind all night, and that was way more than she would have liked. She would have been _so_ much happier if she could have just slept in peace without thinking about the swelling purple skin on a very muscular back…which somehow managed to shape-shift into a _very_ muscular torso. A _sweaty_ torso.

"No, no, no, no, no! Not again!"

Damn it…she couldn't forget what she had seen yesterday when she was crouched on top of Inuyasha. Then again, did she really _want _to? Why was she even _thinking_ about the physic of the young man? She had just broken up with her boyfriend for Gods sake! Shouldn't she be mourning the loss of him and the failure of that relationship, rather then thinking about the _very_ attractive and sweaty chest of the most _annoying_ man on the face of the earth?

"Grrrr…I feel so confused…"

"About what?" a voice asked as strong arms wrapped around her middle, scaring the crap out of her. She spun around and found herself face to pectoral with the chest she had just been thinking about.

"Inuyasha? What are you doing here so early?"

"I thought that you might want to baby me _now_ instead of waiting until _after_ practice. Was I right?"

"No, you weren't, you arrogant jerk. Lemme go!" she cried out in anger, pushing on his chest to try and break away from his iron grip on her.

"Wait, just…gimme a sec," he pleaded.

Huh? What was going on? What was wrong with the guy besides the obvious?

She felt his arms tighten around her as he brought her closer to him in his embrace. Did he just lean down and smell her hair? Not just take a subtle sniff, but practically _inhale_ it? And was he…trembling? She did not know what was wrong, but clearly it was bothering him. She wrapped her arms around him, rubbing gentle circles on his back with her hands. He was trembling so much that he felt like a vibrating chair in the electronics section of Sears or something. He held her like that for a few more minutes before finally letting go.

"Inuyasha?"

"I'm a…gonna grab some ice. My forty minutes are up," he told her, keeping his head down so that she would not see his face.

What was going on with that man?

"Inuyasha?" Kagome started after working up the courage to follow after him. She found him standing in front of the freezer loading a bag with ice before he closed both said bag and freezer door. He tried reaching back to apply the ice to his wounded shoulder, but he wound up jerking the bruised one even more. He hissed in pain, and she cringed.

"Here," Kagome offered, holding out her hand so that Inuyasha would give her the bag of ice. She took it from him and then gently placed the bag on his shoulder. "How did it look this morning?"

"Dunno. I didn't see it."

"Do you mind if I look then?"

"Go for it," he mumbled, trying to keep his thoughts away from the fact that Kagome would be taking his shirt off of him…partially. He felt fingers travel up the length of his back and over to his shoulders. He tried not to shudder. "How's it look?"

"Better, but still bad. It is actually healing very fast."

"I'm a fast healer in general. Good thing I'm into 'feminine' sports."

She cringed at his last comment.

"I didn't mean it like that," she whispered softly, her fingers delicately tracing the outside of the bruised flesh.

"I know."

"Look," she started, hesitating before finally deciding to go through with her decision, "is there anything that I can do to make up for what I said yesterday?"

He was silent then, thinking about all the different possibilities at hand. He could start high, and then work down to something that he _really_ wanted. Oh yes…that would be a fantastic strategy. She won't do whatever he asks for first, but he could wear her down eventually.

"Slave for a month?"

"No way! What would you do with me for a month? Make me do your laundry and pack your suitcase?"

"You're right, that is so boring…_sex_ slave for a month?"

She pressed the bag of ice down hard on his wound.

"Ouch! Ok, ok, ok! No sex slave…forget I mentioned it…"

"I'll have you remember that I am not even considered a legal adult yet in this country, so I would be happier if you left adult activities to people over eighteen."

"Oh come on…you make it seem like you have never done that before."

She pressed down on his wound, making him yelp.

"Would you stop doing that?"

"Would you stop being so lewd?"

"This coming from the woman that swears more than the entire navy?"

"You know what? I take back my offer. I can see that you are only going to be childish about it," she snapped, spinning on her heel and marching towards the door, taking the bag of ice with her.

"Wait!" he called after Kagome, running out of the room to follow. "I don't really want those things from you."

"Oh really? Then what _do_ you want?"

"A date."

Kagome stopped in her tracks and looked at him with wide eyes. Not only did he hit on her yesterday, but now he was asking to take her on a date? What…did he feel a need to torment her after finding out that she had just broken up with her boyfriend?

"A date?"

"Yes."

Damn…the boy was good. He was not even flinching when he lied straight to her face. She knew that he could be annoying, but cruel too?

"What the hell is your problem?" she yelled at him, her fists clenching into tight balls so that she could feel her fingernails pricking her palms.

"I don't _have_ a problem. You asked what I really wanted, and that is what I want."

"You are so full of bullshit, you know that?"

"Huh?"

This girl wasn't making any sense all of a sudden. Was he missing something? Let's see here…she asked what he wanted from her to make him forgive her. He said slave for a month, then sex slave for a month. She freaks out, and he then changes it to a date. Nope…that sounded about right…

"Are all men the same? Asses…every last single one of them!"

"Am I missing something here?"

"Oh, sure…play dumb. You are an annoying prick for three years, and then the second you find out that I broke up with my boyfriend you are on me like a fucking dog in heat! Do you like fucking tormenting me and playing with my emotions?"

"Am I missing the problem here?" he asked, scrunching up his brow in thought.

"Yes, the 'annoying prick' and 'dog in heat' part."

"No, I got that already…you made that perfectly clear," he winced. "What I don't get is why you are so bent out of shape about this. How am I tormenting you?"

"Then maybe you should look at the 'I just broke up with my boyfriend' part," she cried out in frustration, ignoring his question.

His eyes softened remarkably at her words. "You're still getting over him, aren't you?"

"I don't know…I mean it's not like we parted on the best of terms."

"I see," he whispered, taking note of how she got a pained look in her eyes. "And you are not ready to start dating again."

"I don't know."

"Then why don't you rebound with me? What could possibly be better than showing up your ex with an Olympic athlete? Just one date."

"And what happens if you suddenly decied to change that and still make me your sex slave for a month on that date?"

"If I can get you to give me a chance, then it won't be a month, but it will be for an eternity. Just one date, Kagome. It can be a formal or as informal as you want it. Just give me a chance."

She bit her lip in thought.

Would it really be so bad to humor the ass if he wanted this so much?

"I'll think about it," she told him before she started her stretches. "Why don't you lie down? I can put the bag on your shoulder for you so it can work its magic."

"Sure," he agreed, elated that she would seriously consider dating him.

Inuyasha picked a mat that was in the perfect location for both watching Kagome _and_ the door. That way he would know when a certain trainer that he was mad at would come in. Kagome gently put the bag on his shoulder before finishing up her stretches and starting a floor routine.

She had once confided in him that she _hated_ the music for it, but seeing her taste now he could not blame her. Classical was not her style.

He recognized this routine. It was the one that had helped get her onto the Olympic team. Of course, her skills on the bars had really put her over the top and ensured her spot.

She was beautiful when she preformed. She was so graceful, and he could tell that she always gave every performance her all…unlike him.

He watched her prance around the floor doing this leap and that, feeling guilty. He knew how hard she had worked to get where she is right now, and he barely had to lift a finger. He had the blood of an athlete running through his veins. The blood of a gymnast. First, his mother had been an Olympic medallist, then his brother, and now him. The thing was, he didn't _want_ to do this. He hated how he was so good as something that he did not want to do in life…but he had to because that was his mother's wish. He could still remember seeing her those eight years ago, and no matter how much he hated doing this, he was so glad that he had. That was why he made sure that he practiced enough, but did not push himself.

He just wished that all of his talent had gone to someone that wanted this more then he did.

Someone more deserving.

Someone like Kagome.

She jumped one more time, twisting her body in the flip before landing and doing her ending pose.

"You have gotten much better, you know."

Kagome turned to face him, face flushed with either sweat or embracement, but he was not sure which. God he hoped embracement. That would mean that she at least valued his opinion to a point.

"You are just trying to butter me up so I agree to that date."

"No, I am speaking the truth…but is it working?"

"Maybe," she smirked, walking over to him to check on his shoulder again. She lifted up his shirt once more and was pleased to see that the swelling was starting to go down, if only a little.

"How does it look?"

"Better. The swelling is going down and I think that it is lightening in color. You should be better by the Olympics for sure," she told him, lowering his shirt and putting the ice back on the wound. "Can you believe it? The _Olympics_! I still can't believe that I made it in!"

"I can. I wasn't lying when I said that you are an amazing athlete."

"You are trying to butter me up again."

"Maybe," he smirked, relishing in her giggle as she walked away from him to continue her routine when Sesshomaru walked through the doors.

"I am sorry that I am so late, Kagome. I had some things that I had to take care of at home. Have you done your stretches yet?"

"Yeah…and she did her floor routine."

"Inuyasha," his brother growled, his eyes narrowing at the site of the ice bag on his shoulder. "What have you done to yourself?"

"I distracted him when he was practicing this morning," Kagome interjected. She had to fib a little since she was pretty sure that his brother did not know that he snuck out at night to train. That kinda made her admire him more. He was willing to sneak behind his trainer and brothers back just to be able to apply himself more to the sport. "And so he fell off of the high bar and hurt his shoulder. I helped him change out of his training cloths because I don't think that it is a good idea to put too much stress on it until he is better and we have been keeping ice on it."

Sesshomaru walked over to his brother and crouched down before him, lifting up his shirt and bag of ice to examine his wound.

"You made a wise assessment Kagome, and I agree with you. Inuyasha, I want you to stay off of your right shoulder. That gets rid of most of your routines, except for the high bar. I want you to rest for the remainder of the day and we can start tomorrow."

"Fine. But I am _not_ leaving yet. I'm gonna stay and watch Kagome practice," he informed his trainer, turning his head to wink at said athlete.

This exchange was not lost on Sesshomaru.

Their demeanor around each other had changed. Normally Kagome would be complaining over such a statement, but instead it seemed as if she was almost humming with a certain…glee?

What had changed between the two of them?

"Fine then. Just do not get in our way. Kagome, you should listen to me today and I would like you to do a run through of your uneven bars routine."

Kagome went through her routine as planed, nailing every move. She was stunning, elegant, and limber. He loved watching her up there. He wished that he never had to _stop_ watching her. Unfortunately he had to.

She went through her routine one last time before letting go of the bar, hurtling into mid air while she spun her body and stuck her landing.

She was tired and sweaty, but she was happy. He was glad that she was happy. You _should_ feel happy after a performance like that.

"Isn't it so much better when you listen to me Kagome? You don't hurt yourself as much."

She turned her head and stuck her tongue out her trainer in a moment of child-like elation to her successful practice.

Inuyasha could not help but chuckle. He took the ice off of his back. His twenty minutes were up and he had no reason to stay much longer.

He watched as Kagome gathered her stuff up and he proceeded to do the same with his own.

She grabbed her bag and disappeared into the girls locker room to change into her normal clothing, and while Inuyasha could have left then, he chose to not. He still had a lot of work to do to get on Kagome's good side.

God…how long did it take a girl to change? Half an hour? What could she possibly have to do?

"Inuyasha."

He stiffened at the sound of his brother's voice.

"Yeah?"

"I need to speak with you."

He turned to face Sesshomaru, his arms crossed over his chest. "About what? Kagome? Forget it. there is no way that I am gonna let you ask her to do that."

"Inuyasha, I know how much you like her, and I have seen the results that come of you when she is here to watch you practice," he told him as his eyes lighted on the lithe form of the woman that they were currently talking about as she stood in the doorway to the girls changing room. "I think that she could help motivate you to push yourself further just by staying after her practice for a bit. Not the entire time, but for an hour or so at the least." Sesshomaru was no longer talking to his male athlete, but the female one on the other side of the room. "It will be good for you."

"But I don't want…"

"There is nothing wrong with wanting to impress the woman that you are deeply attracted to with your skills and special abilities. In fact, Kagome is one of the few people that you probably _could_ impress this way. Are you saying that you suddenly don't care what she thinks of you after silently pinning over her for the last two years?"

"That's not…"

"Then you either get to ask her, or I do. We can try it out, just for a week. The choice is yours. Who would you rather have approach her about this."

"And that is the only say I get in this?" Inuyasha demanded, barley containing his simmering anger at being backed into a corner like this. His brother was right though. He _did_ want to impress her.

"Yes."

"Fine then," he snapped. "I will ask her myself. Knowing you, you'll say all the wrong things."

"Or all the right things." Kagome finally spoke up, making her presence known to the oblivious athlete as she walked up to him.

"How much did you overhear?" Inuyasha ground out, his posture suddenly stiff as he clenched the hands that had drifted down to his sides.

"Enough to know what I am agreeing to."

"I see. I'll see you both here tomorrow then," his voice was empty. Emotionless, really. Just a vapid shell of what it normally was. He wanted out of this room. Out of this building. Out of the damn _state_ even. He saw nothing as he walked. He felt nothing as he walked. He did not even realize that he was out by his car fishing around for his keys until someone gently put their hand on his shoulder.

"Just fuck off Sesshomaru. I don't want to deal with you right now. You have no _idea_ how much I just wanna rip your head off of you for what you said. And you _knew_ that she was there the entire time too! How could you basically tell her that I am attracted to her?"

"Inuyasha," a voice said and he instantly stiffened. That was _not_ his brother that he was talking to. "I know that you are not happy with your brother, but I am glad that he said those things to me."

He was silent as he examined the red paint on his car, afraid to look at the young woman.

"Inuyasha, won't you at least look at me?"

He didn't turn his head, so Kagome brought her hand up to his chin and forced him to look her in the eye.

"I am glad that he said everything that he said, Inuyasha. When you first asked me on that date, I thought that this was just one more of your many pranks to torment me. Now I know the truth though, don't I? When you were annoying the shit out of me, that was your way of showing that you liked me, just like a little kid in the third grade."

He blushed at that. It had been so long since he had to try and impress a girl that he wasn't sure _how_ to anymore, so he went with what was familiar to him. Annoyance.

"I was going to say 'no' to you, you know."

"Going to?"

"I changed my mind after I heard the 'silently pinning after for two years' part. Pick me up at my place on Saturday. Do it at six. I heard that the fair in town out by the docks is fun."

His eyes widened at her words and his heart almost burst out of his chest at her words. He was pretty sure that it did when she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.

Maybe he shouldn't be so mad at Sesshomaru after all.

* * *

A/N: Ok…I know that it has been a while sine I posted last (not that long) but I had to work on chapter three. Sadly…it is still not finished. It is going to be veeeeeeeery long though. So, because of its length, and because I just started a new school year and don't have a feel for my homework load, I am going to update once a month for a bit. Not for very long because I will eventually shrink the time back down to two weeks if I am lucky. We will see. I am trying to keep my A/N's shorter, so that is it for now! thanks to everyone that reviewed, and look for the next chapter on September 27th, if not sooner if possible!


	4. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I love the only Inuyasha related thing I own. My cute little chibi inu key-chain which lives out its happy life on my iPod making fashion statements everywhere (Ha! Take that Parris Hilton! You want something hot? Then look at my iPod cuz it's so cute and knows how to accessorize.)_

Chapter 3

"One," Kagome counted, "two, three."

The front door burst open the second she put her hand on the knob, revealing three teenage girls.

"Let's go shopping!"

May her own personal hell commence.

It wasn't that she hated shopping. Shit, it wasn't even that she hated shopping with her friends. What she _did_ hate was going shopping with her friends for a new outfit for her date tomorrow. Even that wasn't such a big deal, but having her friends ogle Inuyasha until six tomorrow night when her "savior" came would make her want to do something drastic.

Her three friends quickly brushed past her as she stood in the doorway to find their way to her room and ditch their stuff. Kagome slowly closed the front door (the symbolic irony of the gesture was not lost on her) as she submitted to her fate. She slowly walked up the stairs to confront her friends for their own special version of the Spanish inquisition.

She supposed that this was her own fault really. She did ask them to come over and help her pick an outfit out. When they had asked her why, she had been foolish enough to say that Inuyasha had asked her on a date, and she agreed. This was promptly followed by shrieking and before she knew what happened her friends had invited themselves over for the night. Her parents, unfortunately, were all in favor of this.

God, it wasn't even like it was a big deal!

...Ok, so maybe it was, but _only_ for two reasons.

The first was that it was about time that she started dating again. She had lied when she told Inuyasha that she had broke up with her boyfriend a few weeks ago. _He_ broke up with _her_ a few _months_ ago.

The second was something that Inuyasha himself had pointed out. He _was_ an Olympic athlete, and a gold medalist, so there for he was a somewhat famous person. He wasn't Brangelina famous, no, but B class actor? He was above that. That, in her friends' eyes, was a _big_ deal.

Alright…there might have been a third reason too. He is sexy as hell. There. She finally owned up to something she always knew.

"First," Eri pounced, "we want a recent picture of the guy. Find one now."

"Why?" Kagome demanded, her eyes narrowing into slits as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Because we want to determine his hotness level again, to see if he is worth our time." Yuka reprimanded.

"But you guys _know_ what he looks like."

And that was the truth. They had seen him many times throughout the three years that she had been training under Sesshomaru. She could still remember the first time, too. They had just tagged along with her one weekend because afterward they were gonna go to a movie and then sleep over at her house. They had only been fourteen at the time, so they still needed their parents to take them everywhere. Her mom had gotten them to the gym early and they were just in time to see Inuyasha do one final run through of his routine. He had been seventeen at the time, but they were in awe of him. Liquid grace and perfection all melded into a human being known only as Inuyasha. His flips and twists had captivated them, and when they got to see him up close, they wanted him. He had not stayed long after he had finished the high bar, but long enough for him to be the source of her friends' dreams for weeks to come. He was beautiful. She would not deny it. Inuyasha hardly spoke to her back then, so he too had caught her interest. It was only when she was older that she found out that he was a jerk, and even older when she found out that he was a jerk because he liked her.

"So what if we just wanna check him out again?"

"God…you guys are impossible!"

And they were. From that day on, they had made it their personal goal to make sure that one of the four of them snagged the male specimen of grace and elegance. They all demanded constant pictures of him, and often times when they came to watch her practice in later years, the camera phones were flipped out, snapping shot after shot of him…most of which were _very_ provocative.

Still though…if they wanted to check out her man _again_ then they could check him out. It wasn't like they had a chance with him in any case.

Wait…_her_ man?

Dear Lord, it was _just_ a date. It wasn't like she was his girlfriend or anything. But…did that mean that she _wanted_ to be his girlfriend?

The squeals of her three friends brought her out of her thoughts as they literally started drooling over the picture that she had found on the web of him.

The picture had been taken three weeks ago at a park. Sesshomaru had taken them there for a picnic one afternoon in hopes of getting them to squabble less. Needless to say, it had not worked out well, but it had been a fun experience in the end. Inuyasha was sitting down on the grass, leaning up against the rough bark of the tree. The day was sunny, with blue skies and not a cloud in sight. They had taken cover under the welcoming boughs of a giant tree to shield them from the sun and to help keep them cool. Inuyasha was wearing one of his polo shirts again. This time it was a deep cranberry red. It was a good color on him; it helped to set off his hair and brilliant eyes.

She let her friends take over the computer the second her eyes had locked with his in the screen, and before she knew what was happening, her friends started to look up his stints in the gymnasium off of youtube. That was fine with her, and she didn't mind so much, until the girls started talking about the ass's ass, and the items opposite of his ass. _That_ was when she got protective and shut off her computer, ignoring their snickers at her reaction.

"Well? Can we go now that you guys have rated him…_again_?"

"Oh yeah," Eri smirked. "We have _a lot _of work to do. Grab your purse and let's go!"

A lot of work, huh?

"First we have to get your layers redone," Ayume started, "then we need to make our special hair guacamole, so that means a trip to the grocery store. Then to the mall! We need to lather you in lotion, get some new makeup, a new outfit, shoes! You are going to look amazing when we are done with you."

When she got out of this, she was going to kill Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, might I ask as to why you are destroying your brother's room with his wardrobe?"

Inuyasha poked his head out of his brother's large walk in closet to take in his father's expression as he examined the hurricane damage. Clothing, or more specifically shirts, were spewed all over the floor, bed, and Sesshomaru, who was lying on the bed pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration and exasperation. His father had a look of both amusement and curiosity etched onto his face; an eyebrow arched delicately towards his hairline.

He could not help but blush at his father's question. So far, he had only told Sesshomaru of his date with Kagome. He did not want to tell his parents yet about tomorrow night until he walked through the door with another date set up with Kagome. This date wasn't just a big deal for him, but for everyone. Inuyasha glanced over at his brother and watched as he rolled his eyes, removed his hand from atop his nose, and sat up to explain to his father the reason why his brother had turned his room into a disaster zone. More important, he supposed, why he _tolerated_ it.

Inuyasha ducked back into his brother's closet, riffling through the clothing there. He would hold up one shirt before throwing it behind him and selecting a new one.

"He is moving on, father. It has taken four years, but he is finally moving on."

"He got a date?"

His father's voice was full of surprise and he was sure that both eyebrows were now in his hairline.

"Yes."

"Kagome?"

Silence. He supposed that his brother had nodded.

"How did he…_when_ did he?"

"Monday, though he did not go into details. He just showed up here a mere thirty minutes ago and turned my room into this.

"It's about time." Inuyasha heard his father whisper. "Four years. Can you believe it? After all this time…" his father trailed off, barely able to speak the magnitude of the situation.

"It was hard for him. It was so un…"

"What do you guys think?" Inuyasha suddenly asked, cutting off his brother. He had quickly thrown on a shirt that he was considering to get them off of that topic. It was still hard for him to hear, even if he wasn't bleeding inside anymore. He stepped out of the closet wearing a short sleeved, black, button down shirt. He had left the top buttons undone, revealing the thin silver chain looped through a tiny hole in a small silver coin. He could feel their eyes travel over his body as his father and brother examined how the shirt fit on him. It was tighter on him than his brother, but both knew the female mind and knew that in this case, this was not a bad thing.

"You look good. I forgot about that shirt. It should be worn more often. Air it out a bit."

"You think that she will like me in it?"

"Yes." They both told him.

"But…"

"Inuyasha, it is more important that she likes you and not the shirt."

Words of wisdom that could only be spoken by a parent. Inuyasha was silent for a moment as he took them in.

"She will like the shirt though, right?"

"Inuyasha, just keep the damn shirt and wear it tomorrow!"

"Really?" he was not sure if he should trust his brother on this.

"Yes! Now clean up my room from the mess you made!"

"Kagome, this shirt was made for you."

She didn't pay attention to who had said it, but it did not matter. She was going to a fair for god's sake! Not a club! The shirt barely had anything to cover her skin with and make it family appropriate. Besides…all the skimmer, glimmer, and shine that made the shirt one big piece of bling would blind Inuyasha in the sunlight.

"Kagome, you forgot that you _want_ to make his jaw drop. That means that you _have_ to wear it."

Kagome turned around to face Eri, her hands on her hips. They had come back to her house after four hours, only to have her friends shove her into the shower as they prepared the hair guacamole. When she had finally emerged from the shower, they pounced on her again, lathering her hair in the guacamole before covering it in plastic wrap. Now they had four different outfits thrown on her bed as they tried to decide which one would be best for the next day. So far her three friends were gravitating toward the skimpiest of the four, while she was slowly starting to cling to the idea of wearing just a simple pale blue sundress that she had gotten that day.

It was very, very pale, like the sky on a clouded day. Small, tiny white dots were flecked all over the surface of the dress. White eyelet lace trimmed the hem of the sundress, and a thin belt that wrapped around her petite waist was made of the same lace. The v-neck of the dress was not that revealing, but it was enough to tempt Inuyasha, and she loved how one flap of the v-neck was tucked into the other, almost as if it were wrapped. She liked the simplicity of the dress and how it did not scream "I am easy", unlike the other three outfits.

"I think that I would rather wear the dress."

"You can't do that! You _have_ to wear this one!"

"I don't feel right wearing that one."

"You still looked amazing in it though."

She was silent as she let her three friends try and convince her that the outfit that they wanted her to wear was the best one _to_ wear. 'Oh Kagome, he will love you in it! Oh Kagome, he will drool over you when he sees you in this! Oh Kagome, it is so cute! How can you _not _wear it? Oh Kagome, oh Kagome, oh Kagome.' She just wanted to yell at them to shut the fuck up! She didn't _want_ to wear something like this to the fair, but did that matter to them? No.

She sighed.

Perhaps the guacamole was getting to her brain. She should not be angry with them. She had brought this down upon herself. Besides, they were only trying to help. Maybe the stress of the Olympics was starting to get to her. A break from it all tomorrow would do her some good. Still though, she would _not _wear that outfit!

Her gaze shifted to her phone and an evil idea came to mind.

While her friends were still going on and on about how great it would be if she wore that tomorrow, Kagome silently slipped over to her slim phone and dialed a fake number into it.

"I will call him you know. I will call him and cancel the whole thing," she bluffed, keeping a calm expression on her face as three pairs of eyes looked at her in bewilderment.

"Kagome, you can't do that!" Eri cried out.

"Then let me wear what I want," Kagome shrugged.

"You're evil," they told her as they turned up the music.

"Yeah, I know."

"Aren't you at least a _little_ excited that you are going on a date with him?" Ayume asked as she helped Kagome put her newest purchases away.

"Why? It is just a date, right?"

One day, looking back on the date, she realized _just_ how wrong she was about that.

"Breath in, breath out."

That was easier said then done. What did he have to fear? Kagome? Nah…she couldn't do a thing to him. She could only _crush_ him to a thousand pieces by rejecting him on the date. Yup. Nothing to worry about. Not a thing.

Still though, you would think that he would have an easier time ringing the doorbell then he was.

All he had to do was lift his hand up, just like so, and press the little round button off to the side of the door frame.

His eyes widened when he realized that he had gone through with the action that he had just been coaching himself to go through with, resulting in the light musical chime to alert the Higurashi family of his arrival.

"Oh shit," he whispered jerking his hand back to his side. He was not ready yet! Then what if _she_ was not ready yet to go with him? What if he came too late? What if he came too early? What if she hated the flowers he brought? What if…

"Who are you?"

A young boy had answered the door. He could not be more then thirteen, and he _had_ to have been the brother that Kagome was always talking about. What was his name…

"Hey Sota!" God he hoped he was Sota…

Well, the kid wasn't correcting him so he must be right.

"I'm Inuyasha. I'm ah, here to pick up your sister. Is she ready?"

"Ooooooh…so you're the guy that she and her friends were going crazy ove…"

Sota never got to finish his sentence for suddenly out of nowhere a hand shot out and clamped down over his mouth, cutting him off from saying more.

Inuyasha's eyes traveled across that hand to follow the long, smooth length of an arm up to an almost bare shoulder. His gaze took him from a shoulder to a neck, and from there Inuyasha found himself starting at the painted face of Kagome.

"Well I thank you for getting the door for me Sota, but as you can see I am here now and I can deal with it," she told him as she grinned through her teeth.

_It_? Is that what he was? An _it_? Just a thing? He knew that that was not how she meant it, and that he should not be taking her words this way, but they still hurt.

"Why don't you go back inside and play with your video games some more?" Kagome continued, finally unclamping her hand from on his mouth. The boy shrugged and ran back inside after giving out a 'nice to meet you' courtesy to Inuyasha.

"It was nice to meet you too Sota!"

His attention was brought from her brother's retreating back to the woman before him.

She looked beautiful.

Was he really about to take this dangerous enchantress out on a date?

"Why don't you come in for a moment? I have to get my purse and then I will be ready to go."

"Ok," he replied, slowly walking through the threshold to the inside of her house. She started to walk away from him, leaving him in the hallway when his hand snapped out and grabbed hers, preventing her from escaping him.

"Wait, I, ah, well…here." He mumbled, blushing profusely as he shoved the bouquet of flowers that he had kept behind his back at her.

Shit…should he have given them to her like that? Should he _say_ something to her now that he had all but forced her to smell them?

"I, um, ah…thought that you might like these."

Could he sound any lamer? Where the hell was his fucking confidence?

But…that smile of hers…it made it seem all right, like he had not messed up completely by shoving the flowers into her face.

"I do. They are beautiful Inuyasha. Thank you. Let me go and put these in water and _then_ grab my bag. I will be right back, so stay right here, ok?"

"Yeah, sure."

She was gone in an instant and he was left to sweat things out in the corridor. Did she really like the flowers or was she just being nice? What kind of vase was she going to put the flowers in? Where was she going to keep them? Did it matter? Did she spend just as much time finding her dress as he spent looking for this shirt? Did she care about what she was wearing? Did she like what _he_ was wearing? Gods, where was she?

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she reappeared in the entryway with her purse.

"Are you ready?" He asked, hopefully.

"Yeah, let's go."

He took a deep breath, and opened the door for her as he walked her out to the car. He had cleaned his car out the night before, vacuuming the interior, and spraying some Glade to freshen the inside. She probably would not notice, but he_ still _wanted to make as good an impression as possible. He opened the door to the car for her, which clearly caught her by surprise given the eyebrow that shot up to her hairline.

"Thank you," she murmured as she got into the car.

He gently closed the door, before walking around to his side of the car and getting in.

He watched her as she buckled herself into the car with the seatbelt, and proceeded to do so himself. He put his keys into the ignition, and started the car.

Damn it…why the hell were his hands shaking like this? He gripped the wheel tighter, trying to get the tremors to ease up. It wasn't that big a deal…it was going to be just like the last official date he went on four years ago when he came back from Athens…right?

* * *

A/N: Ok….so this chapter was shorter then the rest, but I could have made it supper long, or end it here. I went for here since I am under a LOT of stress right now…if the school year keeps up like this, I might have to keep posting new chapters once a month for this one. You know my rules…school first. I don't have the next chapter done yet too. Sorry…again…I am under a lot of stress, most of which, believe it or not, is coming from White Rose still. I have to finish that by October first, and I still have a few chapters to do. Anyways, I am thinking that I am gonna post the next chapter on October 28th. Thanks to my newest beta **SilverGodFanGirl **for dealing with this chapter and making it purty, and thanks to all my reviewers!


	5. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I love the only Inuyasha related thing I own. My cute little chibi inu key-chain which lives out its happy life on my iPod making fashion statements everywhere (Ha! Take that Parris Hilton! You want something hot? Then look at my iPod cuz it's so cute and knows how to accessorize.)_

Training Hearts

By: Lil6ter

_"Are you ready?" He asked, hopefully._

_"Yeah, let's go."_

_He took a deep breath, and opened the door for her as he walked her out to the car. He had cleaned his car out the night before, vacuuming the interior, and spraying some Glade to freshen the inside. She probably would not notice, but he still wanted to make as good an impression as possible. He opened the door to the car for her, which clearly caught her by surprise given the eyebrow that shot up to her hairline._

_"Thank you," she murmured as she got into the car. _

_He gently closed the door, before walking around to his side of the car and getting in._

_He watched her as she buckled herself into the car with the seatbelt, and proceeded to do so himself. He put his keys into the ignition, and started the car._

_Damn it…why the hell were his hands shaking like this? He gripped the wheel tighter, trying to get the tremors to ease up. It wasn't that big a deal…it was going to be just like the last official date he went on four years ago when he came back from Athens…right?_

* * *

Chapter 4

"Fuck…I never wanted for you to have to eat somewhere like that Kagome. They're normally good," Inuyasha said, running his fingers though his short silvery hair.

"What can you do?"

"Apologize?"

"If you apologize one more fucking time, you won't have anything left to make me your sex slave _with_."

They had gone to the restaurant in a relatively optimistic mood. Inuyasha had claimed that they had good food and that she might like it, but man…did things ever work in the _opposite_ direction. His stake was burnt and cold. Her fish was so under cooked it was still swimming and she received her wimpy salad halfway into the meal, and she somehow got his french-fries while he got her broccoli. Inuyasha got so pissed with how things were handled that he talked to the manager. She wasn't sure what he did, but they got a double fudge brownie alamode with even more hot fudge on it…which they shared…she still wasn't sure how she felt about that…and left without paying or tipping.

On the up side, Inuaysha had said, now he had more money to lavish her with cheesy stuffed animals.

He then drove over to the fair, which they had just gotten tickets for and were on the prowl for games that weren't rigged for once.

"Oh? So does that mean that you are going to reconsider my proposition?"

"_Hell_ no."

"You wound me," he joked, a smirk pulling at his lips, daring her to counter him and fight back his claim.

Stupid, smug, attractive, ass. Wait…his ass wasn't attractive…well…it was but…_shit_. Fucking basterd…no…not Sesshomaru…_this_ fucking basterd. God Damn it! She needed to work on her pet names…

What the fuck? Pet names? When the hell did she start calling them pet names? They were just names to distinguish one pain in the ass form the other. There was the older brother: the basterd. Then there was Inuyasha, the smirking ass…wait…ass_hole_. She still felt like that was an upgrade. Did he deserve an upgrade? Or was it really a down grade? No…up grade. It takes more effort to say ass_hole_ then just straight up ass.

"Not yet, but I will be soon enough."

"I'm sorry…are you implying that you're a masochist?"

"Have you always been a perv?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Actually, no…probably not."

"Must you be a fun sucker?"

"What the fuck? What the hell is a fun sucker?"

"Someone that sucks the fun outta everything. Damn woman, learn your lingo."

Kagome stopped walking and stared at his back as he made his way over to the first booth. Did he…just…say…_lingo?_

Inuyasha is a world-class athlete, a hero of hers at times, and an ass, and he uses words like _lingo?_ There is something fucked up with the world when an attractive twenty year old male uses the word _lingo_ and it is the year 2008.

Inuyasha turned around to ask Kagome if she wanted anything from the forever-infamous baseball toss, only to see her standing three yards behind him with a very amusing Expression on her face. Words couldn't begin to describe her Expression, so he figured why waste brain cells on it. If he had brought a camera with him though, her Expression would have been on a memory card by now.

"Kagome?" he called out to her, startling her out of whatever the hell she was thinking of that gave her that Expression. "Are you gonna come with me or stand there all night?"

"And what are you gonna do if I wanna stand there all night?"

"Well, I know that that isn't true."

"And why is that?"

"Oh, no big reason. Just the lil' fact that you walked over here on your own without the bribery of being my sex slave."

"Would you stop saying that!"

"Nope. I like seeing your cheeks turn red. It is a very becoming look on you. I think that you should try that more often. What says you?"

"I 'says' that you have a need to take a few words out of your vocabulary."

"Ouch…I feel crushed…especially since this is coming from the woman that uses damn, hell, and fuck in almost every sentence. I like the last one a lot though…and what you can do with it…and where you can use it."

"Fucking ass," she grumbled.

"Only if you are doing the'fucking' as you so eloquently phrased it."

"You know what? That doesn't even deserve a response."

"Yet I just got one," he smirked, enjoying the way her red face became an even darker red. "Now then, lets focus less on flirting with me and focus more on which animal you want me to win for you."

Inuyasha swore that if he hadn't used the bathroom before leaving the restaurant, he would have emptied his bowels from the look on her face, and the absolutely sinister smile she gave him when she pointed at one of the animals.

"I want that one."

Countless tickets later, Inuyasha and Kagome left the stands and made their way back to his car, arms overflowing with prizes.

"It wasn't that bad," Kagome tried, only to get no reply."

"Inuyasha?" she tried again, still receiving the silent treatment.

"Ok, so tonight wasn't your night…"

"Fucking hell! Not one bottle. Not even _one_!"

"Everyone has their off nights…"

"And not everyone has their girlfriend nock over all of the bottles. Every. Fucking. Time. I mean, what the fuck? Did you have to get all of them? Every time? I'm the one who's supposed to be winning these for you, not you, using my money, to get the animals for me!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome began softly, "Do you have any idea what you just said?"

"I said that you could have at least _pretended_ that you weren't so damn good at that game. I do have _some_ male pride that I would like to remain unwou—"

"No," She broke in, cutting him off. "The part about me being your girlfriend."

The way his eyes widened was comical, and the way he started sputtering, "Shit…I…fuck, no, I…damn it!" was almost worth what she had to bring up: almost.

"You do know that I am only doing this so that I'm not gonna be forced to be your sex slave for a month, right?" she teased weakly.

"Yeah, I know. I was just…talking about people in general. Not us."

"Inuyasha…"

"Forget I said it and let's just put these in the car, ok?"

She didn't mention his comment for the rest of the night.

"So, games are out," Inuyasha said firmly, "so that leaves rides for…the nExt hour or so."

"Why such a short time?"

"What…you thought that I was going to have us do nothing but this all night? Carnivals can be fun…but there are other things that are just as fun that we can do."

"Like?"

"Now why would I tell you that?"

"'Cause I wanna know."

"Overly impatient woman. I'll tell you this: the sky needs to be pitch black."

"Inuyasha…"

"Come on," he said pulling her in the direction of a food stand. "I feel like having a funnel cake."

"But what about the Games!" Kagome screeched. "You ate most of the fudge thing at dinner. Aren't you at least a little worried about your figure? I mean…it's not like you have a lot of ti—"

"Fuck, you sound like my brother."

"Well, if he has been saying the same things, its true. It just goes to show that he—"

"Is being a pain in the ass! You have no idea what it is like to live with him! He is _never_ a brother to me! He is my fucking coach twenty-four-fucking-seven!" Inuyasha shouted, causing several people to turn their head and stare at them and Kagome's eyes to widen.

"Look," Inuyasha began, "I'm sorry for that, but…there is a lot of stuff in my life that you don't know about—won't know about. There is stuff in your life too I am sure that you don't want to tell me, so can we just…leave things at that?"

"Yeah," Kagome whispered softly.

"Fuck," Inuyasha sighed running his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry Kagome. I am. But…please, don't push the issue. Forget about the funnel cake. Lets just go and find a ride, ok?"

"Yeah," she whispered again, frustrating Inuyasha.

Inuyasha started walking off in the direction of the screams he heard from the roller coasters and felt Kagome following besides him. Suddenly, without warning, he found Kagome wrapped around him like climbing Ivy. Ironic. She was his poison ivy. She slid her hands into his hair and leaned in, looking deep into his eyes and his breath caught in his throat. He swore that he had never seen more beautiful eyes before in his life. Slowly, she tilted her head in and Inuyasha's eyes widened further. Was she going to kiss him? She had to kiss him, right? She was all over him. Her fingers were threaded in his hair. He could feel her breath on his face and…oh fuck, she was looking at his lips, and she was leaning it. Come on woman, just a bit further, you can do…

"Kagome!"

…Fucking hell?

"Hojo! Imagine seeing you here!"

"Hojo? Who the hell is this Kagome?"

"I would like to know the same thing," said a woman standing nExt to the burnet male.

"Inuyasha, this is Hojo, my Ex."

…WHAT THE FUCK?

"Hojo, this is my…boyfriend…Inuyasha."

HELL YEAH!

"It is nice to see you with someone else, Kagome."

"I couldn't agree more," Inuyasha said, leaning down and capturing the lips that had been dangled before him like a fuzzy ball on the end of a string before a cat. Hojo thought that he had a chance of getting Kagome back? Not after _he_ was done kissing her!

He moved his lips gently against Kagome's and closed his eyes, savoring the moment. Her lips were so soft. A baby's bottom was a horrible analogy in that moment, so he decided that analogies were over rated. I mean…who uses analogies on a day to day basis? English teachers? Well, he wasn't an English teacher. He was just a man kissing the woman of his dreams, quite literally, for the last year or so. Of course he had been wanting her for longer but…God…it was better then anything he had dreamed up. The only problem was that she wasn't kissing him back. Ok…so it was more then just a problem. Did that mean that he had gotten rusty as the years wore on? Or…oh, there we go, yeah, that's it…push back and move those lips and…Oh, Fucking, GOD. She was practically eating him. FUCK! She was sucking on his bottom lip. Damn woman…that drove him crazy… no…no…bad Kagome…don't pull away…no…don't take those baby butts away from me… fuck! Mood killer…Fine…take them.

Inuyasha looked over to an awkward looking Hojo and…who was she?

"And who might you be?"

"Mika, I believe," Kagome told him. "Hojo's new girlfriend."

Ouch…was that a bitter tone he detected in her voice? Didn't she just kiss her new boyfriend?

Wait…

He…

Wasn't her new boyfriend.

This was all a charade put on in front of a guy that broke her heart.

"Well, as much fun as it was to see you two—" Inuyasha began to try and sneak Kagome away from The Ex, until those fait full words were spoken:

"Mika and I were on our way to ride the faris wheel. Would you two like to join us?"

"Well…"

"Sure! Inuyasha and I were just about to go on some of the rides."

"Actually, we were just on our way out," Inuyasha said firmly.

"But you said…"

"Come on Kagome. Lots of things to do and so little time."

"Oh…well…ok. Bye Hojo. Mika."

"Kagome."

Inuyasha grabbed her hand and began leading Kagome away from the pair when Mika ran after them.

"Inuyasha? As in Inuyasha Takashi?"

"Yeah," he started slowly. "What of it?"

"Can you sign this for me? I couldn't place where I had seen you before for a second," Mika pushed a pen and slip of paper into Inuyasha's palm, and he quickly wrote his name and a message before leaving with Kagome.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"She wanted an autograph."

"I meant back there with Hojo."

"I could be asking you the same thing," he tartly replied.

"What?"

"Oh, Hojo! I would _love_ to forget about the person I am with right now to ride the faris wheel!" Inuyasha imitated in a high-pitched voice. "Maybe we can send Mika and Inuyasha out to the car! I mean really, why do I need to go on a faris wheel ride with the man I am calling my boyfriend to make you jealous with? Maybe if we can keep your girlfriend, and my boyfriend occupied, we can make out on the ride! And then when your holding me in your arms, you can tell me how much you _love_ me and how much you want me _back_ and…"

"Shut the hell up! I was nothing like that!"

"You were! Damnit Kagome! Do you have any idea how _insulting_ it is to have your date see her Ex, and then insist on going on a ride like the faris wheel with the Ex? You might as well just go into a fucking love tunnel or something with him!"

"I am not going to—"

"You would if you had the chance."

"So what if I would? Inuyasha, we aren't together—"

"And yet somehow you manage to kiss me as if we were!"

"You kissed me!"

"And you kissed back!"

"You still kissed me first you basterd!"

"Oh, real mature Kagome. _Real_ mature. You were wrapped around me, practically inhaling me just to get back at him! Fuck woman…can't you think of anyone other then yourself?"

"Ok," Kagome tried to say calmly, "so maybe what I did was childish, but tell me this: if you had a chance at getting back together with your Ex, would you take it?"

The look on Inuyasha's face made it seem as if she had just slapped him across the cheek.

"I can't believe you just said that."

"Inuyasha…"

"No. I…fuck…I'm taking you home."

"What?"

"Don't you dare 'what' me. How could you just…no. You know what, I'm the adult here. I'm taking you home."

"But we didn't even…"

"I don't give a damn. I knew that you hated me Kagome, but this…I thought that this was below you."

"But…"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear another thing out of you."

"You know I won't stay quite."

"You know what? I don't give a damn what you do any more."

Inuyasha opened the door for Kagome and slammed it shut, getting into his side as well. He flipped on a the cd player as he drove, Evan's Blue blaring through the speakers. Over. Ironic. The song that was playing would be Over. He found himself grinding out the lyrics behind his teeth, a bitter, bile like sound ripping itself from his throat.

"You better crawl on your knees  
then next time you say, that you love me  
fall on your knees, 'cause this time I won't be so kind  
can't you see that this is life and life is killing me  
is it yours? is it mine?  
our sky fell down tonight, to wash away our pain."

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered.

"Please, just shut…shut up Kagome. Can't you at least respect me enough to do that?"

"Can't you see that this is death and death is saving me  
I say burn all your bridges while you still have control of the flame  
I know it's hard but you...

tell me, over and over and over and over and over again  
it never was time for us, it never was time to let me…"

There was something wrong with the car. Inuyasha pulled off to he side of the road and turned on his emergency signal.

"Inuyasha?"

"Stay quite."

"What's wrong?"

He didn't reply. He got out of the car and went around to check the tires. Just as he thought. A flat.

"Get out of the car Kagome."

She did as he asked and watched in confusion as he walked around to the truck and took out a jack, wrench, and a spare tire.

He loosened the nuts in a crisscross pattern before lifting the car up with the jack. He took the wrench and put it on one of the nuts before stepping down on it, loosening it completely. He removed the tire, put on the spare that was good for fifty mile or so, loosely put on the nuts, then lowered the car and tightened them. Kagome was surprised that he knew how to do all that, but it took him about five minutes or so in all.

"Should I get back in?" Kagome asked as he put his tools away.

"No…I'm such a _bad date_ that I'm going to make you _walk_ home," he replied sarcastically.

"Can't we at least talk about this?"

"We did. I think I got a good enough answer."

She was silent then as he started the car again, with her inside, and drove toward her home. When they got there, he parked the car and unlocked it, waiting for her to get out so he could go home and forget about this horror of a date.

"Don't you at least want to know why I went out with you?"

"No. There is nothing new that you could tell me. I have heard it all already."

She sat there for a few more minutes, and she could feel him starting to get impatient.

"What else," she softly asked, "What else were we going to do?"

Inuyasha sighed and leaned back in his seat, leaning his head back.

"There is this nice little drive in theater not too far from the fair. It's not well heard of, but they were playing twenty-seven dresses. I heard you saying that you wanted to see that, so I thought that we could go there. Then when that was over with, it wouldn't have been too late, so I was thinking we could drive over to the beach. Maybe walk on it some. Bask in the glory of having won the animals for you," he told her, clearly having slipped into his own little world where Hojos didn't exist. "You would start to lean into me, complaining that you felt cold and I would wrap my arms around you to keep you warm. We would sit down for a while, stare at the waves for a bit. Kiss you. Then I would take you home, walk you to your door. Tell you how good a night I had and you would in your shy and bold way kiss me good night and go inside, to tell your friends what had happened. How perfect it had been, and how you wanted to do it all over again."

She was silent for a moment before her wavering voice asked, "Then why can't we? Why can't we do it all?"

"Because now I know the truth about you. Now get out." She slowly opened the door to the car, animals loading her arms down. She was about to close the door when she made a split second decision to give him the biggest one: a white dog with golden eyes. They had spent the most time trying to get it. She had wanted it at the time because it reminded her of him.

"Good night, Inuyasha."

It stung a little to not have him acknowledge her, and it stung even more when he drove off without waiting to see if she made it in.

God…she messed up.

She unlocked the door, and immediately, her friends and mother knew that something was wrong. It wasn't until the door closed that she let the tears fall.

* * *

A/N: OMG! I DID IT! I know…It took me forever…but I have been thinking about this story for a long time, and I have been feeling very nostalgic lately. I wrote this in about 2-3 hours yesterday, all in one sitting, and I wanted to get this up ASAP, so no AR's. I will do them though!!!

I know…what went wrong with that date??? It wasn't gonna go that way went I first had it mentally planed…whoops? I just wanted for the date to go wrong, and then have it be a lovey-dovey ending. I think I like this more though (DON'T KILL ME!)

Thank you to everyone that has showed support so far! I love it! I crave it! I DEMAND MORE OF IT!

I am in the mood to write more of this, so I am gone finish up my homework and then hop to!


	6. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I love the only Inuyasha related thing I own. My cute little chibi inu key-chain which lives out its happy life on my iPod making fashion statements everywhere (Ha! Take that Parris Hilton! You want something hot? Then look at my iPod cuz it's so cute and knows how to accessorize.)_

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* * *

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_Chapter five_

"Kagome," a soft voice called from outside her bedroom. Said girl groaned and pulled a pillow over her head. Did it have to be morning so soon? She wanted to forget all about her fiasco of a date yesterday, granted that it was mostly her fault. Her friends had gone home the night before after comforting her the best they could, but she couldn't gauge their opinions. Somehow, she knew that they wouldn't have made the same slip ups she had, and she didn't even want to know what they really thought. What she did want was for them to be there for her, and they were. That is what true friends did, and even though she still wanted to strangle them, she was glad she had them.

"Kagome," the voice called out again and she quickly identified it as her mother. She heard her open the door and walk in to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Kagome, coach Takashi is here. He wanted for me to get you. I think…I think that something happened to Inuyasha."

If her mother had said anything other then 'Inuyasha', there was no way she was gonna get out of that bed. Since she had however…

"What happened to him?" She demanded, throwing the pillow away from her head and to the other side of the room.

"I don't know…he wouldn't say. All I know is that he came here first thing this morning very concerned. He says that he would like to talk to you though. Why don't you…"

Kagome leapt out of bed and ran down the stairs before her mother could even tell her to get dressed.

She looked in the foyer, but he wasn't there, so she ran over to the living room to find him sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee. Her mother must have offered him a cup when he came over. Her father was sitting in his armchair, pretending to read the morning paper, but she could tell from the look on his face that if he was reading the paper, he was reading the same line over and over again.

"Sesshomaru? What is it? What happened?"

Her coach put the coffee down on the end table and called her over to sit with him.

He was silent for a moment before slowly asking, "What time did Inuyasha take you home last night?"

"Eight forty-seven. Why? What happened?"

"And…it is safe to assume that he didn't spend the night?"

Her father, who had just sipped some of his own coffee, spewed the substance all over his paper at Sesshomaru's word choice, or rather, the implications behind them.

"I can assure you, that boy didn't set foot in this house after he abandoned Kagome here in tears."

"Dad, please," she hissed to her father, turning back to Sesshomaru and giving him a simple 'no'.

"I see…and…you say that something went wrong on the date?"

"I wouldn't like to go into the details, but I have gone on better, yes. Sesshomaru…please…what is wrong?"

"Inuyasha never came home last night," he told her with a great deal of difficulty. "Everyone in my family is out looking for him, but I thought that it would be best to start with the person that saw him last."

"He's missing?"

"Yes."

"What can I do to help find him?"

"Nothing," her father said, "what you can do is go over to the gym and go on as if nothing happened. I am sure that he will turn up. He is a grown man. He can take care of himself."

"But…"

"Your father's right. I am going to keep looking for him, but I think that he will be in one of two places."

"What are those places?"

"The gym, or the graveyard."

***

Inuyasha lay in on the dirt and grass, numb and cold. Not physically. Psychologically. Mentally, he felt like he was living in Siberia. He still wasn't sure how he got here, but it felt right. After his date with Kagome, he felt that he had learned a lot. One was that you can't change the past. The other was that you can't change fate. It was melodramatic, yeah, but that is how he truly felt, and somehow, his feelings had led him here. He absently wondered how she would feel if she knew that he was laying six feet above her, drinking in the feel of her long gone presence. Just being here…it made everything seem better.

Everyone has that first love. That person that you give your first kiss to, that first special time, that first feeling of absolute rightness to when you're with them. That person that you can't forget for the rest of your life, even if things don't work out for you…even if they die and leave you alone, helpless, wishing with every living breath that they were still here to wipe your tears away. Kiss your scratches and tell you that everything would be all right. That they would never leave you.

"_If you had a chance at getting back together with your Ex, would you take it?"_

Her death was a bitter one. There was no sense of closure. It just…happened. To this day, he still blamed himself.

"If only I had driven her home…if only I had kept her for a few more minutes…if only we had not celebrated…"

How many times had he asked himself that? How many times had he wondered how different life would be right now, if something had gone differently that night?

It was a celebration. That was the reason she had come over. He was the favorite to win, and had won gold in the all around and the parallel bar. She was so proud of him…she had told him countless times over the phone that it felt like she was dating a celebrity. There wasn't a single person that didn't know his name, and it just made her heart swell. She wanted to do something to celebrate his achievement. Not just anything would do though, no, she wanted to come over to his house and cook him dinner. She wanted to…to…God…it was still so hard thinking about that night. So many good things had happened. Lots of firsts, and lasts…but now…now he felt numb.

He had a fun game that he liked to play every so often. The rules were simple: all he had to do was imagine what life would be like now for him had she still been alive. Sometimes she would have a pretty ring on her left hand. The diamond would sparkle in the light like a little star that never dimmed. That is what she was like, he supposed. She was a star. She would live on in his mind for years after her death. Remembered always for now and ever. It was a comforting thought.

"Inuyasha…I am so sorry…"

How had he let it happen? Why couldn't he have at least made her stay the night? She didn't have to sleep in his bed. After all, they had a guest room. She could have stayed there, though that was rather silly given all the different ways and things they had done to celebrate.

"What happened. Sesshomaru, what's wrong?"

Maybe they should have watched another movie, or done…_that_ again, but…even if that had happened…it didn't change the outcome of that night.

"Kikyo…I'm sorry Inuyasha…so very sorry, but she was…"

The wind blew through the trees, and he swore for a moment that he heard laughter. Her laughter…it had been the best sound in the world, and he missed it. It was the sound of angels laughing to him. Her voice was like a choir of them singing.

"Kikyo was…she was driving home when…""Oh God…""I'm sorry…"

"Inuyasha, what are you doing here?"

"What does it matter Sesshomaru?"

"It matters."

Sesshomaru had been watching his brother for the last ten minutes as he lay motionless in the dirt. He hated seeing him like this. He reminded him of the day that he had told him what had happened to Kikyo. The look on his face was the same as the one that was on his face now.

"I know that you miss her—"

"You don't know shit about what I going through Sesshomaru. You have no idea what it is to loose someone that you love so completely."

"Yes I do, and it is the same person that we both almost lost. Inuyasha…what happened to you? What are you doing here?"

He was silent as he rolled back over onto his side and played with a tuft of grass that grew over her resting place. He could almost count the days that it had taken for the grass to start to grow there, for he had visited her everyday after her funeral for a few hours until it got to the point that his family had to ban him from going there for a few months.

"Inuyasha?"

"Just do me a favor and shut up, ok Sesshomaru?"

"I can't do that."

"And why the fuck not?"

"Because I have seen you like this before, and I do not plan on seeing you like this again. I do not know what happened to you, but snap out of it!"

"Why the hell do you care?"

"Because you might have lost a girlfriend, future fiancé, and someday wife, but I lost a brother. You changed, and you were dead for four years. _Four fucking years!_ I will not let this happen to you all over again. So you had a bad date with Kagome. So what? You think that you are the only one that has had a bad date before? No. I have had quite a few of them, and I will have a few more I am sure until I get married. I want to know what the hell happened that ma—"

"If you could go back to an Ex, would you? If you had a chance at getting back together with your Ex, would you take it?"

"Inuyasha?"

"Would you?" he shouted rising up onto his elbow to look his brother in the eye.

"She saw her Ex last night."

"Would you?"

"And I take it that she tried to rekindle their relationship."

"Would you?" Inuyasha demanded, raising to his feet and walking up to his brother so that they were nose to nose.

"You can't bring her back. What's done is done."

"But what if I could? What if I could bring her back and we could be together like we used to be?"

"Your delusional," Sesshomaru whispered. "Are you sick? Inuyasha, we are leaving for the games—"

"Damn the fucking games and answer my fucking question!"

"No! I wouldn't!" Sesshomaru shouted in his brother's face, watching as is remained hard as a stone and his eyes stayed filled with pain. "Everything happens for a reason, Inuaysha. Even her death."

"She didn't deserve to die," he whispered brokenly. "She never did anything to anyone."

"I know Inuyasha. I know," Sesshomaru whispered as he gathered his brother into his arms as Inuyasha's sobs shook both of their bodies. He ran a hand in large circles over his brothers back as he felt the tears hit his shoulder again, just like he had numerous times over the last four years. "I know. Sh…I know."

"I know what I would do," he gasped, "that's why I came here, and I don't know how I feel about it."

* * *

Several Weeks Later

Airport

"God Kagome, what all did you pack?" Souta whined as he tried to pull the bag out of the trunk of their family's car. Kagome stood waiting…_patiently_… for her brother to hand over her bag, but right now it was clearly more entertaining to poke fun at all she had packed along rather then actually be helpful. And to think that he was coming with her and her parents to China.

"Oh…stop complaining Souta and just hand me my bag."

"I mean it…what is _in_ here?"

"Stuff that I will need!"

"Like what? Every animal that you could find on a safari? That will be _very_ useful."

"Ha ha. Not amused, now give me my bag."

"I will if I can lift it out of the car."

"Oh for the love of…"

"Here," someone said from behind the two and lifted the bag out of the car with an unimaginable ease.

"Oh, thank you…_Inuyasha_?"

"Yup." He replied, walking away from the pair with a large bag of his own and a relatively relaxed gait to the elevator that would take them from the underground garage into the upper floors of he airport.

Kagome ran after him in disbelief. She had not seen him since their date-gone-wrong, and she was worried about him. Sesshomaru had also been working her harder then usual, though she didn't know if that was because what had happened and he blamed her for how things went, or if it was because the games were rapidly approaching. He had a right to pin everything on her, but still. She was worried about Inuyasha. When he left, the look on his face…it had stayed with her since that night.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, confused by his sudden presence when she caught up to him.

"Well you see, there is this little sporting even coming up that I thought I would attend. It's called the Olympics…have you ever heard of it?"

"That is not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean," he asked rather tartly.

"I mean…what are you doing here with me?"

"Right now? Well, I am walking, and you decided to follow me."

"You are such a wise ass."

"And you'll never find another one quite like me," he joked rather sarcastically, pushing the up button.

"Inuyasha…I think that we need to talk," she whispered quietly as the doors opened and he walked in.

"I think that we don't. Later Kagome," he replied sharply as he hit the door close button, and the number one.

As she watched the doors close ever so slowly, Kagome felt a little piece of her die inside, and somehow, she couldn't let things end like this, because as she watched those metal doors join at the seems, she knew that Inuyasha was more then just the annoyance that she saw whenever she had to practice. He was the guy that teased her and insulted her and understood her like no other would, and she wanted a real chance with him. One that she wouldn't screw up by longing to see Ex and jump at the chance to do so.

She jammed her arm in between the heavy doors, forcing them back open and ran inside, pressing the door close button.

"Are you insane? You could have broken your arm doing that. Then what would you do?"

"Inuyasha, shut the fuck up," she told him as she grabbed his head between her hands and pulled him down for a kiss.

She was forceful, demanding, dominating, and she was not letting him get away as she ran her tongue over his lips, and then into his mouth, exploring him and playing with him at the same time. She moved her hands from the sides of his face to his hair and grabbed fistfuls of it. She moaned into him when she felt him begin to kiss her back, and soon she was the one that was dominated as she felt his tongue pressing back against hers. He teased her, explored her, and wagged war against her entire being. He pulled away from her when he heard the door open to the busy airport, and felt the air around them move as someone, or more then just one, person got in. She wasn't paying attention, and he didn't give a damn. He was wondering though what had caused her to do that.

"I want a second chance," she told him as she panted and looked up into his eyes, searching them with her own to see what his reaction would be.

He took a deep breath and sighed as he ran a hand through his now messy short hair.

"Go to your family, Kagome," he whispered as he pushed her back into the elevator.

"Inuyasha," she whispered softly as she felt her eyes begin to burn.

"We'll talk once we are checked in. We have thirteen hours to settle our differences."

The doors closed.

* * *

A/N: See? Not another six months. I want to get them out of the states, so I'm sorry if this feels a little rushed, but darn it, I want to get the show on the road!

I'm starting a new story and posting it online, but not at any of my normal places. I am posting it on one of my own personal sites (not giving up the address unless you contact me) and I will post it once I am well underway with it. I know…I am horrible for having so many stories going…

Thank you so much to everyone that has showed me support with this story and who has not given up hope with it! It means a lot to me. Much love to everyone!


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